STRASBOURG, 9 March 2011— Today the European Parliament adopted two resolutions on Turkey and
Montenegro’s progress towards joining the European Union.
The Parliament said that more steps
are required to bring the two countries in line with EU standards in the
field of non-discrimination.

Parliamentarians urged Turkey “to ensure that equality,
regardless of sex [...] or sexual orientation, is guaranteed by the law and
effectively enforced”.

The resolution initially mentioned illegal forced
closures of LGBT organisations and the army’s classification of
homosexuality as a psychosexual illness (sic).
Progressive MEPs amended the text to
also denounce ongoing murders of transgender people, and condemn the
withdrawal of gender and sexual orientation from a draft anti-discrimination
law.

“But I urge the Turkish government to reinsert sexual
orientation and gender identity into the draft anti-discrimination law; this
will send yet another signal of Turkey’s determination to complete the
accession process.”

As for Montenegro, MEPs welcomed the newly-adopted
general law on prohibition of discrimination in employment or provision of
public services, but regretted that “discrimination on the grounds of sexual
orientation and gender identity widely persists, including on the part of
state authorities”.

Ulrike Lunacek MEP, the other co-President of the LGBT
Intergroup, reacted: “Montenegro has achieved much. The Montenegrin
Constitution prohibits direct or indirect discrimination on any ground,
although it still falls short of EU standards as it permits direct
discrimination in some cases.

“Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian people, persons with
disabilities as well as LGBT people still fall victims of severe
discrimination, and gender equality has yet to be secured,” she pointed out.

“We demand that Ferhat Dinosa, Minister for Human and
Minority Rights, defend LGBT people’s human rights instead of displaying
intolerance and insensitivity to these issues.
This is the only way forward for
Montenegro’s accession process.”

The Intergroup pledged to keep monitoring accession
processes for Turkey, Montenegro, and seven other countries.